Student Editors Weigh In On OWS, Sustainability, Other Issues

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Student Editors Weigh In On OWS, Sustainability, Other Issues

Apr 20, 2012 |

1. The Occupy Wall Street movement – and other locations, of course – has attracted lots of attention on campus, and this writer for the Emory Wheel describes his personal experience as a participant. At the U of Southern Alabama Vanguard, the editors similarly endorse the movement as a “human” one. The editors of the UCLA Daily Bruin opine the while campus Occupiers need to respect the rules regarding camp outs, the university needs to remember that free speech rights exist there as well. Meanwhile, a commentator at the ASU State Press thinks that a proposed resolution currently working its way through Congress would stifle free expression and the right to assemble – especially of occupiers.

2. But perhaps surprisingly, OWS hasn’t garnered uniform rave reviews among the undergraduate press corps. A colleague at Vassar College’s Miscellany News was – and probably still is - a supporter, but thinks that some of movement’s recent tactics are dangerous and self-defeating. Similarly, a sympathetic staffer at the Daily Californian laments that the local Occupy movement is petering out, but isn’t surprised, given its lack of internal cohesiveness.

3. Environmentalism questions and sustainability generate lots of ink as well. As Earth Day approaches, a columnist for the UConn Daily Campus describes its impact 42 years after it first appeared in 1970. A colleague at the Stanford Daily, though, thinks that there’s still a lot of work to do, since many people miss the crucial distinction between climate and weather. At the same time, a Daily guest columnist relates the indescribable green experience of slogging through an unspoiled New Zealand wilderness.

4. Sustainability has numerous advocates among the student press corps. The regular sustainability columnist for the Maine Campus sums up her experience and says it’s definitely been worthwhile. The editors of the KSU Collegian would agree, argue that much more needs to be done to get students involved sustainability efforts on campus, also the view of their counterparts at the Purdue Exponent. In a similar vein, an op ed writer at Washington U St. Louis thinks that it takes more than gimmicks to get his undergraduate peers serious about greening. At the University of Delaware, a staffer for the Review thinks that more work needs to done in creating eco-friendly dorms.

5. In other issues, a guest columnist for the Harvard Crimson says that the university’s speech code is perfectly reasonable, and doesn’t understand why it’s been getting so much recent flak. On a related item, the editors of the Minnesota Daily deplore the decision of several newspapers to spike a controversial Doonesbury comic strip. Some spirited comments follow.

6. International politics usually gets quite a bit of play. For the editors of the Stanford Daily, the preoccupation with North Korea’s nuclear ambitions often clouds its appalling human rights abuse track record. At NYU’s Washington Square News, a regular foreign correspondent depicts the life of gentiles within Israel. And according to a staff writer for the JHU Newsletter, Israel is resolutely on the path to peace, but is unfortunately hindered by the no-response of its neighbors. At the same paper, a colleague sees great hope in the Arab Spring movement. On a more somber note, a political analyst for the University Daily Kansan raises the specter of US military intervention in Iran.